BETA BEAT: Anonymous announced its intention to “destroy” Westboro Baptist Church this weekend following news that the group would be picketing the funerals of children who died in Friday’s horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Now, infamous 15-year-old hacker Cosmo the God of the Underground Nazi Hacktivist Group (UGNazi) appears to have joined the fray. The Twitter account of much-reviled Westboro spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper has been hacked, and Cosmo is claiming responsibility. Ms. Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps, who is the head of the WBC. Cosmo and the UG Nazi crew gained notoriety over the past year for […]
RANDY NEWMAN: Sail Away
RELATED: Known for such hits as “Real Emotional Girl,” singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and pianist Randy Newman is on his way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Newman, a 40-year veteran of the music business, talked to Fresh Air in 1998 and 2004 about his life and work. MORE
Mother Of Sandy Hook Gunman Was A ‘Doomsday Prepper,’ Armed To The Teeth & Stockpiling Food
…And seemingly oblivious to the real threat. BELFAST TELEGRAPH: The mother of Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza who slaughtered 20 US schoolchildren and seven adults was a gun-hoarding survivalist who was stockpiling weapons in preparation for an economic collapse, it has emerged. Nancy Lanza was shot four times in the head before her son Adam gunned down young pupils and teachers at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Her sister-in-law Marsha Lanza told reporters at her Illinois home that her gun-obsessed relative was part of the ‘prepper’ movement that fears an economic collapse will lead to a breakdown in […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Mary Lou Lord
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Mary Lou Lord took the stage alone at Concerts@SixthStreet in Media on Saturday night looking like she just walked off the cover of her 1995 self-titled LP. Lord is known for covering Elliot Smith, being hated on by Courtney Love, and for being friends-with-benefits with Kurt Cobain, something she always denied. But most significantly, she is known for the 1998 album Got No Shadow which earned her a four star review in Rolling Stone and a cult following. She didn’t release a follow-up until 2004 and then vanished, partially because she was affected by spasmodic dysphonia […]
SIDEWALKING: Enter Sandman
Long Beach Island, near Holgate, 1:03 PM by JEFF FUSCO RELATED: Thou Shall Not Put The Ocean Behind A Paywall
CINEMA: Mr. Bilbo Rising
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012, directed by Peter Jackson, 166 minutes, U.S/New Zealand) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC The Matrix sequels, The Star Wars prequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Godfather III; there’s something about bad prequels that make us feel uniquely superior. We know how the story should be told, we’ve seen it told well before. But there it is, up on the screen, hitting every bump and taking every wrong turn. After topping the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a Best Picture Oscar in 2003, Peter Jackson returns to adapt J.R.R. […]
KIM WYLDE: Kids In America
This one goes out to the kids in America. RELATED: Kim Wilde and Ricky Wilde serenade passengers on the train home after the MagicFM Christmas Party. After a truly rubbish day, I got on the train home and couldn’t get a seat, a man pulled out his guitar “Oh here we go!” I thought. Then a drunken woman starts singing. Hang on a minute, I know that voice?! It really was KIM WILDE! This totally made my day. Thank you.
Thou Shall Not Put The Ocean Behind A Paywall
Photo by WEEGEE BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILLY POST As you may have heard, a bipartisan pair of New Jersey lawmakers are sponsoring a bill (S-2368) that offers the Garden State’s dazed and shattered shore towns a Hobson’s choice: Accept public funds to restore beaches from the ravages of superstorm Sandy and forfeit the right to charge beachgoers an admission price in the form of beach tags OR don’t take a dime of public money and charge at will. Also, if you do choose to take the taxpayers’ money, you MUST provide seaside public restrooms, which would put an […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Of Montreal @ The Troc
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Kevin Barnes brought his indie-rock carnival show Of Montreal to the Trocadero last night. Born from the ashes of a failed relationship, the band is now in it’s sixteenth year of performing songs about love, sex and running away to Norway to escape your troubles. Wearing paisley leggings and matching hunter green shorts and boots, Barnes strutted like a man who knew he owned the stage as well as the crowd. His keening, Bowie-esque vocals narrated 16 his most beloved haikus-set-to-new-wave/indie-grooves, totally ignoring Paralystic Stalks, their well-received current release, in favor of a Best Of setlist. […]
VIDEO: 76ers Fan Shoots Bulls Fan On The Subway
View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com. NBC 10: In the mutli-angle video you see two teenage males — one in a blue hooded vest and one in a gray hoodie — standing by the door of the subway car apparently arguing with some other men, at least one of whom was wearing Chicago Bulls gear. Police blurred the faces of the victims. As the train pulls up to the station at 46th and Market Streets at 10:38 p.m. you see the two teens turn away from the Bulls fan as the Bulls fan stands behind them. The train then stops, the doors open and suddenly one of […]
TONIGHT: I’ll Take You There
Illustration by BRENT AFFRUNTI Stephen Colbert is set to join Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples and Sean Lennon in a performance of the John Lennon holiday song “Happy Christmas (War Is Over) on The Colbert Report TONIGHT. The performance is part of the show’s “Christmas Carol Week” and will air Thursday December 13th on Comedy Central at 11:30pm and repeats at 1:30 am the same night as well as 10:00 am and 6:30 pm the following day. All times ET/PT. Full episodes are posted the following day HERE. Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples are currently in the studio working […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Polyphonic Spree @ The Troc
Like Santa Claus, The Polyphonic Spree is coming to town — to the Troc tomorrow night to be exact — in support of the new HolidayDream: Sounds of the Holidays Vol. One. Eyewitnesses breathlessly describe the band’s live shows as bliss rallies, as sonic Ecstasy hits, the antidote to Seasonal Affect Disorder, all indie/rock/orchestral/Tabernacle choir sunshine and goodwill and tidings of comfort and joy. ‘Tis the season, right? We have two pairs of tickets to give away because we heard you were bummed and figured the Spree would help turn that frown upside down. To qualify all you have to […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR By the time he turned 40, Joseph Kennedy was a millionaire many times over and the head of what would soon become one of America’s greatest political dynasties. In his new biography of the senior Kennedy, The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy, David Nasaw charts Kennedy’s life and trajectory from Boston society boy to Hollywood bigwig to controversial ambassador to Great Britain as World War II unfolded on the European stage. And then there are the tragedies. Joe Kennedy — a devoted father by Nasaw’s account — outlived four of his nine […]